Defending the story

N.T. Wright makes a compelling case for the authenticity of the Gospels | Marvin Olasky

N.T. Wright can write. He is controversial for his theological studies of justification, but when it comes to questions of Christ's resurrection and what that means, no one is more persuasive. Wright's new book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (HarperOne, 2008) builds on C.S. Lewis' succinct defense of the faith and takes it to a new level.

Lewis is famous not only for writing great books but for one apologetic in particular: He argued in Mere Christianity that Jesus was liar, lunatic, or Lord; that it made no sense, based on the Gospel accounts, to consider Him liar or lunatic; ergo, Jesus must be Lord. The skeptical response, of course, is that Lewis is assuming the Gospel accounts are honest reporting—but couldn't they have been written decades later by distorting propagandists who churned out fiction and called it fact?